"It is safety first. It is speed second," says Newsom on reopening of I-10

The 10 Freeway will remain closed indefinitely in both directions in downtown LA as officials continue to assess the damage as a result of Saturday's massive pallet yard fire. 

"Unfortunately, there is no reason to think that this is going to be over in a couple of days," said Mayor Karen Bass during an afternoon news conference on Sunday, though officials could not provide an estimated timeframe for which the freeway would reopen. 

"Our strategy is three-prong. Number one, ensuring that there is a plan for Angelenos who commute or live by this incident. Number two, working to get the 10 Freeway up and running again as fast as possible. Number three, providing as much information as possible to ensure that our communities and our commuters are well-informed every step of the way," Bass said. 

"Fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths. But we know the impact that this fire will have on the surrounding communities as people need to drive to work, school, and other activities," said Bass, sharing, "We are working day and night to make the repairs necessary to restore the freeway."

The fire unfolded at 12:22 a.m. Saturday underneath the Interstate 10, which is one of the largest arteries going into and out of downtown. 

Initially, firefighters were dispatched to a reported "rubbish fire" in the 1700 block of E. 14th Street in downtown Los Angeles, said Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles City Fire Department. 

"The first arriving fire companies found a large 200 x 200 large storage yard with pallets, trailers and vehicles well-involved in fire with buildings that were exposed," Crowley explained. 

The incident was immediately upgraded to a structure fire response with additional resources requested. A secondary fire was ignited as wind pushed the flames to a second yard. The span of the incident involved 8-acres, requiring 26 additional fire resources to aide in the firefight. 

Less than three hours into the incident, the bulk of the fire was extinguished, with one of the fire engines sustaining severe damage. Over 164 LAFD firefighters assisted in the firefight. None of the firefighters were injured. No civilians have been injured. 

After the fire was extinguished, Caltrans 7 took over to investigate the stability of the freeway. 

"This incident is going to affect the southbound and northbound of Interstate 5, State Route 60, and the US 101, in addition to the 10 on the east end," said Assistant Chief Doug Young with the California Highway Patrol. 

"We initiated closures on the day of the event, but we're going to have long-term closures," said Young, who shared the following closures/detours: 

• Motorists traveling on the eastbound 10 Freeway will be diverted off at Alameda Street;
• Motorists traveling westbound on State Route 60 will be diverted to the northbound 5 Freeway or northbound US 101 Freeway; 
• Motorists traveling southbound on the 5 Freeway allowed to go westbound on the 10 Freeway but required to exit at Santa Fe Mateo; and 
• Motorists traveling northbound on the 5 Freeway will be diverted to the US 101 northbound. 

"It is critical that drivers in the area exercise patience and heed traffic officers' instructions," said Laura Rubio-Cornejo , the General Manager for the LADOT, who shared that engineers were making real-time adjustments to signals on surface streets in an effort to minimize congestion in the affected area. 

Rubio-Cornejo advised motorists traveling on the freeway through downtown not to exit onto surface streets to bypass the affected area. 

"Instead, drivers on the 10 are advised to transfer on the 110, 101 and 5 freeways if going eastbound, and the reverse from the 5, the 101, the 110, if going westbound to avoid the affected area," she said. "If your destination is within downtown Los Angeles, I strongly encourage Angelenos to consider taking transit options; particularly, Metro Rail as a way to avoid any of the closures and traffic impacts." 

"If you must drive into downtown, the primary exit and entrance to downtown Los Angeles from and to the east will be on 7th Street," she added. "Traffic from and to the west should exit from or to the 110 Freeway to get access to the 10 to the west of downtown Los Angeles. Once on surface streets, please heed signs and traffic officers' instruction." 

Caltrans said a full evaluation needed to determine repairs. However, that would have to wait until Hazmat materials specialists determine whether the pallets were coated with toxic substances and also to identify contents of 55-gallon drums on the site. Caltrans engineers will also need to test the concrete to determine whether the pillars and the bridge deck are safe. 

"They are going to check for hazardous materials. It is going to be tested today. Then, once it is determined that it is safe to go in, our engineers will go in and assess the damage," said Jim Medina with Caltrans. "It is somewhat significant as you can see so we have to make sure for public safety that we can make the repairs."

Medina said crews will be assessing "possible pavement damage because of the heat from the fire." 

"We have to assess structurally what can be repaired or the extent of the damage and that's what our engineers are going to do. It is their expertise that we will go by. Unfortunately, this is major artery for downtown so we just ask the public to seek alternate routes," he added.

On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly proclaimed a State of Emergency in LA to get the funds and resources needed to tackle cleanup. A number of vehicles were also damaged in the area. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

"This is an investigation as to the cause of how this fire occurred as well as hazmat and structural engineering questions. Those are the primary responsibilities now that Caltrans and our teams face as we move to address the immediate questions. That said, the second question we all want to answer is when can we reopen this structure? That question will be determined on the basis safety and that will be determined over the course of the next many hours as the structural engineers working with our fire investigators assess the specific damage," said Newsom during the afternoon press conference. 

Newsom said close to 100 columns were impacted, but the impact to the bridge deck remained unclear. 

"By 6 a.m. tomorrow, unless something significant occurs, we will complete the investigation as it relates to the origins of the fire," Newsom said. 

Newsom also shared that the state has been in litigation with the owner of the storage property where the fire started. The Associated Press reported that the lease is expired and the owner had been in arrears while subleasing the space, according to Newsom. "This is a site we were aware of, this is a lessee we were aware of," he said.

"300,000 vehicles go through this corridor every day. It is of significance consequence to the economy, to the health and safety of Angelenos, the impact to our schools, to vulnerable communities, all of that, we take very seriously, and we're sober and mindful of the urgency to get this open," he said. "It is safety first. It is speed second."

President Biden will travel to California within 48 hours, Newsom added, sharing, "That's encouraging as well. The White House has appropriately taken this as seriously as it needs to be taken because of the economic consequences and the size and scope and scale of this incident."